NBA: Young sets sights on returning by end of the week

That explains why the sixth-year forward, who has not played for the 76ers since straining his left hamstring Feb. 4, was smiling ear-to-ear Monday night. Young was able to get in some half-court shooting drills, sandwiched around stretching and work on an elliptical machine.

“I just can’t wait to be on the court,” Young said at PCOM, in the Sixers’ first practice out of the All-Star break. “That’s the most boring part of my day — watching.”

The Sixers are hoping Young, who has missed the last four games, can return by the end of the week.

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Young said he “went home” for the All-Star break, rehabbing at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tenn. Young, who’s in Week 2 of his three-week rehab, said he views himself as ahead of schedule.

Sixers coach Doug Collins said it’s possible Young could return to the court by Sunday.

“I think (today) he’s going to try to get up and down the floor a little bit,” Collins said. “My guess would be he will not be ready (Wednesday) for Minnesota, he will not be ready (Saturday) for Miami. Is there an outside chance maybe for New York on Sunday? A possibility. If not, we’re looking at Orlando (Feb. 26). I hope he doesn’t miss any more than three. We definitely have to have him out there. We’re so thin on the frontline right now.”

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If you are to take Collins at his word, the Sixers won’t be heavy participants at Thursday’s trade deadline.

“I don’t see anything for us right now,” he said.

Collins described any potential Sixers move as “something very small. Tony (DiLeo, the Sixers’ general manager) is on the phones every day. I don’t see anything major that’s going to turn our season around. Major, for us, is to get our guys healthy.”

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Jrue Holiday took it light at practice, after a busy weekend in Houston for his first All-Star Game.

“I felt like a fan, like a spectator, down there with the best players in the NBA. … I probably had the best seat in the house,” Holiday said.

“The warm-ups we had on, they had this section for the patches and mine was kind of lonely because I only had one patch and one star on it. But you see KG (Boston’s Kevin Garnett) had 15 on it, and KD (Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant) had five, LeBron (James, of Miami) had seven. I thought, ‘Man, these guys are definitely going down in basketball history.’”

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Jeremy Pargo is here to stay, at least until the end of the season. The Sixers signed the second-year guard, who had been on a 10-day deal, for the remainder of the season.